Can anyone tell me if relay team members are permitted to assist in the transition zones? Like helping pull off a wetsuit in T1?
Nobody really gives a shit about relays so anything goes…I mean it’s not really a triathlon anyway, right? /pink
Unless your swimmer is also doing the bike it shouldn’t really be an issue. Swimmer passes the chip off to the biker (runner makes the transfer from one ankle to another), then the swimmer has all the time in the world to take the wetsuit off.
Ha! Well for those of us who can no longer run b/c our knees or hips are shot and still want to do multisport, then the relay or aquabike are the only games in town. So, in these shoes, it matters.
Yeah, I should have clarified. 2-person relay: swim+bike and a runner. Thanks.
Hmm…yeah I just read through the USAT competitive rules and couldn’t find anything.
I’m beginning to think that the rules don’t apply to relays…
You are responsible for yourself. You cannot have outside assistance during the race. You would recieve a penalty.
But the issue is that during transition you exist as a relay, not an individual. Swimmer comes in, biker goes out. Biker comes in, runner goes out. Somewhere in between there has to be an interaction. Can you link the rules governing relays? I think my rule book (a paper one) may be outdated.
That’s what I assumed, just wanted to see if anybody knew if there were actual rules. Like Zack I could not find anything in print.
I’ve been at IM distance events years ago (as a triathlete racing solo) where a line of volunteers stood at the water exit and offered to yank off your wetsuit if you plopped down in front w/the suit at your waist. Those were USAT sanctioned events, as I recall.
Thanks for the follow up.
I’ve been at IM distance events years ago (as a triathlete racing solo) where a line of volunteers stood at the water exit and offered to yank off your wetsuit if you plopped down in front w/the suit at your waist.
Yeah, but the difference is that everyone has the opportunity to have their wetsuit stripped off by a volunteer. It isn’t considered outside assistance because those people are more or less part of the race. They still do this at some really big events. Clearwater 2010 was the last race I did that featured this service. Personally I think that it’s easier to get out of the wetsuit when I strip it off myself, but I’ve gotten pretty good at it too and there are a lot of people out there that haven’t figured out that you can be a little forceful with the suit and still have it retain its beautiful original condition and functionality. Rubber stretches!
I’m guessing the rd is more in charge of this then USAT. Most relays I’ve heard of are swim, pass bike, pass run. Not swim and bike, then pass, run. So it might not be a typical relay. Ultimately unless there is a referee or someone out on the course you can almost get away with whatever you please.
The rules allow you to relay in any combination as long as you have 2 people as far as I know. That said, I’ve never seen that in writing…just heard it from the RD.
I don’t think USAT cares enough about relays to actually govern them more specifically than covering them under the competitive rules of each leg of the race. It isn’t a competitive enough discipline for it to matter anyway. I have yet to see a (non-draft legal) relay done that couldn’t have been done faster by an individual…relays are usually done by people who aren’t quite as fit as those completing the full race in my experience.
Ultimately unless there is a referee or someone out on the course you can almost get away with whatever you please.
x2 on this. At most National-level events the officials are pretty good about policing the entire field top to bottom. At regional-level races the USAT guys may just police the top guys. At local races there sometimes aren’t any USAT officials at all. I would go so far as to say that most people doing the smallest of local races don’t really care at all about USAT rule enforcement.
Thanks everyone - appreciated.
What it comes down to, is that whatever is not covered in the rules is deferred to the RD. Since it is a relay, it would be up to the race director